Tampa Bay’s 10 to Hold a Virtual Town Hall Meeting To Address the Issue of Bullying.

April 28, 2008 - PRLog -- St. Petersburg, FL:  One of the most talked about news stories on Tampa Bay’s 10 in recent weeks was the teen-beating in Polk, County.  Several high school students beat a school cheerleader while another teen video taped the assault.  Their goal was to place the video on You Tube.  More than 1000 comments have been posted on www.tampabays10.com condemning the act and decrying the acts of all bullies.

In response to this story and many recent stories like it, Tampa Bay’s 10 is organizing a Virtual Town Hall Meeting for Monday, April 5, 2008.  It is being called Let’s Talk: Bullying.  

The event will combine the platforms of television and the internet to involve as many people as possible.  On-line discussions will be hosted by local experts from the fields of education, youth counseling, school security, and the law.  Parents and students are being encouraged to join in.  The experts will lead the conversations in live on-line chats, interactive blogging, and the answering of e-mail.  The moderators of these discussions will also appear live on Tampa Bay’s 10’s newscasts, and during extended commercials breaks throughout the day to report on the discussions being held.  

“If this effort helps one child escape the torment of one bully, it will be worthwhile,” said Sam Rosenwasser, President and General Manager of Tampa Bay’s 10 and www.tampabays10.com .  “Our hope is to put as many students and parents as possible in anonymous contact with experts for guidance and answers.”

Let’s Talk:  Bullying will begin on 5am on May 5, 2008, and continue throughout the day to 11pm.  

Tampa Bay’s 10 is the brand name of WTSP-TV, the Gannett Television owned and operated CBS affiliate serving the Tampa Bay region.  

Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information company that publishes 102 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns more than 800 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom’s second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes more than 300 titles, including 17 daily newspapers, and a network of prize-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 21 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.